Editor’s

2014 definitely wasn’t 2013 in terms of churning out great film after great film, but there a few great films out there if you were willing to dig a little bit for them. While these 10 selections weren’t (for the most part) big blockbusters, they’re films of separate genres that were great in their own ways.

10. “Beyond the Lights” (Gina Prince-Bythewood)

Due to a completely misguided marketing campaign, “Beyond the Lights” was dealt an unfairly poor hand and had a fleeting tenure on the big screen late last year. But there wasn’t a film all year that was as pertinent as this one–a searing indictment of today’s misogynistic culture of celebrity and excess, our willingness to blindly indulge it and the struggle to break away from those bonds to become an artist. And with attentions fixed on the lack of diversity among the Oscar nominations, Gugu Mbatha-Raw delivers one of the most effortlessly precise depictions of the year.

9. “Nightcrawler” (Dan Gilroy)

It’s difficult to make people care about such a repellant character as Jake Gyllenhaal’s Lou Bloom. He cheats, he steals, he lies, he does anything he can to get on top, and then everything to stay on top. His meteoric rise through the ranks of Los Angeles’ crime journalism scene relays Gilroy’s problem with the media as a whole. The film breaks down into a satire, but the morbid picture it paints of the future of crime journalism may be more imminent than we think.

8. “Whiplash” (Damien Chazelle)

Miles Teller plays Andrew Neyman, a young jazz drummer with lofty expectations of becoming the next Buddy Rich. Throughout the film he verbally (and physically) spars with J.K. Simmons’ Terence Fletcher, a hard-nosed drill instructor of a professor more suited for military camp than the confines of a liberal arts school. “Whiplash”’s greatness lies in its filmmaking. The way it’s cut leads you to believe it was made by a directing veteran — close ups and long shots strung together with a fluid ease — but it’s only Chazelle’s second picture. He may be green in the world of film, but the confidence he exudes is remarkable, sticking the landing of each chance he takes.

7. “How to Train Your Dragon 2” (Dean DeBlois)

Making a great animated movie that appeals to all generations is difficult to do. There are certain rules and stipulations that you must follow to appeal to kids, but there are also certain ones you must break to appeal to an older generation. DeBlois’ first installment of the series was a step in this direction, but he struck gold with this visual masterpiece that takes on a myriad of issues such as family and sacrifice, diplomacy and loyalty, and female empowerment. It also isn’t afraid to get a little dark, a quality that should be sought out in animated features.

6. “Top Five” (Chris Rock)

I wasn’t expecting much going into this film, but I was blown away by its sharp, skewering narrative. Chris Rock wrote and directed this small but surprisingly great film about internal struggles within the world of one’s fame; excess vs. credibility, validation vs. failure. “Top Five” reads and feels like a Woody Allen film, but sings when Rock’s patented brand of comedy is sprinkled into its plot. I realize it’s difficult to care about the feelings of celebrities, but there just hasn’t been a film that has peered into their minds quite like this one does.

5. “Selma” (Ava DuVernay)

2014 was the year of the biopic. From “The Theory of Eveything” to “The Imitation Game” to “Mr. Turner,” there seemed to be no end to the boring, cookie-cutter narratives that often plague full-life biographies formed to cinema. But this contracted screenplay documents just a snippet of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life, checking in after he had already made a name for himself in the civil rights arena. Offering up a less-omniscient Dr. King than we’ve ever seen, “Selma”’s charm lies in its illustration of how so many can have a change of heart in the face of evil. It’s easy to dismiss this film as a lens into an unfortunate past, but after the protests that dominated the news in 2014, “Selma” is a film that we need right now.

4. “Inherent Vice” (Paul Thomas Anderson)

If you’d prefer to follow the mind-bending plot of Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest, derived from a Thomas Pynchon novel, by all means do so. But you’d be missing the boat on what makes “Inherent Vice” one of the year’s best. Just lose yourself in its atmospheric appeal. Delight in the 60s’ unwillingness to give into the 70s, the chasm between the hippies and the straight-edges, and the ever-growing paranoia of an omnipotent police state.

3. “Force Majeure” (Ruben Ostlund)

While watching a few of the foreign Oscar contenders, I came across “Force Majeure,” and I couldn’t help but be engrossed in its fascinating narrative. We all have an inner-person, a default setting. We shun it from the world (intentionally or not), and it shows itself when we react to difficult situations without thinking. But what if you’re ashamed of who comes out? It’s a question Ostlund poses in “Force Majeure.” After a split-second decision a father makes when his wife and two kids are in danger, the family begins to disintegrate as they attempt to come to grips with his indefensible gut reaction.

2. “Boyhood” (Richard Linklater)

No matter how many critical accolades it receives, “Boyhood” will always be known for the ‘gimmick’ of its 12-year shoot. But it’s so much more than its filmmaking process. Directors and storytellers strive their entire careers to write dialogue that connects with people on every level, but Linklater seems to bring it to each of his films with an effortlessness that can’t be understated. “Boyhood” isn’t suspenseful, you won’t be surprised by any plot twists, but when it’s over you’ll feel like you’ve lived someone’s life and witnessed their existence.

1. “Foxcatcher” (Bennett Miller)

Bennett Miller tells depressing stories like no other director working today. The stark, wooded Pennsylvania landscape is the setting for his latest – the story of Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz and his brother’s murder at the hands of John E. du Pont, heir to the du Pont fortune. There’s an air of dread throughout this slow-burning drama, a constant reminder of the menacing conclusion bubbling just under the surface. There’s just no flaw in this film, from the screenplay, to the acting, to the precise editing that makes just the right cuts but is never flashy. “Foxcatcher” left a pit in my stomach and stuck with me like nothing else last year, and it was the best film of 2014.

karensdorf@ 50.63.25.108